Booze fee plan may be amended

Microbrewers and small-yield winemakers in San Francisco could be exempted from a proposed fee on booze sales, said Supervisor John Avalos, chief sponsor of the legislation to levy the first charge of its kind in California.

John Avalos: Hears your concerns.

Avalos said Monday during a Board of Supervisors’ Budget Committee hearing on the impact fee proposal that he is open to considering amendments.

Business owners who sell alcohol in the city have come out in full force against the plan, saying it would kill jobs and make it financially tougher to operate in an already tough economy.

Avalos suggested that microbrewers and winemakers based in San Francisco have made a particularly strong case. ”I have heard your concerns,” Avalos said.

He said he would be willing to meet with proponents and opponents of the legislation before the full board takes up the proposal Sept. 7 after its summer break.

The fee, levied on wholesalers and distributors — which critics say would trickle down to retailers and consumers — would cost about 3 cents for a 12-ounce bottle of beer, 4.5 cents for a 6-ounce glass of wine and 3.5 cents for a standard drink with 1.5 ounces of hard alcohol.

The fee would generate an estimated $16 million a year and help cover the city’s costs related to alcohol abuse, including unreimbursed emergency room visits, ambulance transport, prevention programs and a sobering center.

”This is not about me coming from the temperance society,” said Avalos, who as chair of the Budget Committee led difficult hearings earlier this summer on the city’s new $6.5 billion annual budget that started $483 million in the hole.

”This is really about how we can maintain a level of service in San Francisco for our great needs around alcohol prevention and treatment.” The Budget Committee passed the alcohol fee legislation to the full board without recommendation.